In the Dark -Finnick Odair x Female Victor-
by TaylaWrites
Summary: lost in the darkness after the war, they only have each other.


Hali woke suddenly, her breath lost as she sat up as quickly as she could. The nightmares from her time in the arena had left her long ago, but a few of the more vague ones remained. There was no one left for her to dream about. Manta had been dead for far longer than she could remember, slain by her own hands in the final fight of her Games. For months...years...he'd plagued her sleep, his screams as he was bludgeoned by the rock still ringing in her ears. Everyone else she would have dreamed of was dead as well. Annie, Mags, Tyde, Serena, Peeta, Katniss...they were all dead. Killed by Snow's hands for their defiance. Johanna was still missing, along with the handsome District Twelve boy Hali had thought she loved. Mags was lost to the torture of the Capitol's dungeons. Her own sisters had been killed long ago to take revenge for her aid to the rebels of her district.

A small, breathless, groan came from beside her. The covers rustled as her companion rolled over to face her, opening his sleepy green eyes. Finnick was all she had left, the only one she could still have nightmares about. He yawned, blinking at her in the dim light.

"What are you doing up?" His gruff voice fell over her as he spoke softly, pulling the covers tighter around himself. She'd pushed most of them off of her, the dream having made her feel overheated.

"No reason" Hali answered, stretching out her arms and back as if she'd woken up naturally.

Finnick didn't buy it, instead sitting up just enough so that he could comfortably wrap his arms around her. She let him pull her into his embrace, knowing he wouldn't give up until she let him. Hali sat still as Finnick ran his fingers through her hair, head sleepily resting in her neck.

"What dream was it this time?" He asked, voice muffled by her skin.

"The one with the quarter quell…" Hali answered, her fingers grabbing the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders for comfort. "You hit the force field and.." Tears formed in her eyes.

She wished she'd never volunteered that day of the Reaping. If she hadn't, she would have never watched Wiress die. Would never have had to drive a dagger into Enobaria's shoulder, or slit the throat of that morphling boy. But Annie would have never survived another trip into the arena, it wasn't even anything but sheer luck and the fact she'd grown up in the water that she'd survived in the first place. If Hali had stayed, Annie would have died gasping for breath at the end of a blade.

"I'm right here, Hali" Finnick drew her closer, pressing a soft kiss to her head. "I'm here. We're safe"

They were never safe. The games still continued, a boy and girl from every district, every single year. President Snow still read off his fake speeches, making a point to remind everyone what had happened to the "Mockingjay" and those who had helped her. Children went into the arena and died. The one that came out would be forever haunted by the memories of those who went in with them. They joined the ghosts of the rebel victors and the tattered remains of those who'd been allowed to live.

"It's just…" Her voice broke as a few tears ran down her face. "I wish it was different. I wish everyone was alive. I wish it would all stop."

Finnick held her tightly, allowing her to bury her head against his chest. This happened more often than not, these days. Either her crying into Finnick's arms, or him collapsing into hers in tears. They were a broken pair for sure. But she loved him, not as much as she'd loved Gale, but she loved him all the same. Finnick's heart had belonged to Annie anyway. If they weren't the only two left it wouldn't be this way.

"I'm sorry" Hali whispered into his skin.

"What for" Finnick's voice asked softly, his tone marking that he didn't expect an answer.

What exactly was she sorry for? All of it. None of it. Anything. She was sorry that she'd raced after Enobaria in the arena, chasing her out of the way before they could fry the force field. She was sorry that she'd gone so far out of the way, making it impossible for the hovercraft flown by the rebels to save her. She was sorry for listening to her friends scream as she waited in the dark, terrified by the things they let crawl over her skin. She was especially sorry about Annie. Hali had tried so hard to save Annie. She took every punishment doled out for crying at rallies. The cigarette burns that came whenever Annie had a breakdown in public. All of it and more had marked Hali's skin. It hurt like hell, and the Capitol wouldn't fix the scars they'd inflicted themselves. But she'd been saving Annie. Or so she thought.

There weren't enough cigarette burns in the world to save Annie from the bullet Snow put through her head.

Those were the worst nightmares. Remembering the flashing of cameras. The heat of the spotlights. The huge TV broadcasting crews toting around equipment. Snow, standing high on his podium. All of the little Victor trophies he'd collected lined up behind him. Hali, Johanna, Peeta, Enobaria, and Gloss had been pulled from the arena. The others, Annie, Mags, Tyde, the other victors from districts whose tributes had escaped, had all been pulled in from their homes. Even Nani, an elderly woman who participated in the games at 15, now ancient, was brought from District Three when it was discovered that Beetee had escaped. Snow loved lining up his perfect little soldiers. He'd been in the middle of a speech when it happened, declaring war on Katniss Everdeen and the rebels. When he'd said Finnick's name Annie lost it, screaming, crying, clawing at her ears and face. Hali and Mags had both tried to calm her. But she was still screaming when Snow took the pistol from a nearby peacekeeper and shot her in the head.

"I'm sorry for Annie" Hali whispered, choking on the name.

She felt Finnick tense, his shoulders going completely still underneath her head. "You tried to protect her, Hali. You did what you could. She would have never survived the war anyway" He stroked her hair.

"I could have helped her. I could have taken that shot for her"

"Then there would have been no one to save Gale" Finnick stopped her. "He would be dead."

Her breath caught in her throat as she heard the name. _Gale._ She'd first met him when the rebels of District Thirteen had saved them from the Capitol hospital. She'd been unable to face Mags or Tyde or Finnick, especially Finnick. So she locked herself in her hospital bed, confined to the dark. They sent Gale in to talk to her. He brought a flashlight to see, as the lights still hurt her eyes after being confined to the dark for so long. She'd fallen in love with him as he told her stories of the mines, being out in the woods beyond the fence of District Twelve, the little canaries that saved so many lives even though they gave their own. He'd made her think of Annie as one of those little yellow canaries. Gale had saved her life, and in return she'd shut the emergency exit so that he could escape.

"I shut the door. But they may have caught him" Hali knew the chances of his being alive were slim. So did Finnick.

"I think he is. He'll be our new Mockingjay. And we'll go fight with him to avenge them all. Katniss, Peeta, Wiress, Haymitch. All of them. Johanna will be right there with us" He still held hope that another rebellion would come.

"I don't want them to come back. They'll die too" She said numbly. "You'll die"

Finnick went quiet at that. He knew how desperately she needed him. He calmed her when the nightmares came back. Held her when she cried after Reapings. He protected her from the jaunts of Tyde, the elderly victor that had won sometime around when Mags had, and Nit, the newest victor of District Four. She would fall apart without him.

"We'll always be okay" Finnick pressed his lips to her forehead. It felt fake. It was fake. They were only like this because their other halves were gone. His buried and hers lost to the woods.

"I love you, Finnick" Hali whispered, touching her lips to his cheek.

"I love you too" He answered.


End file.
